Man Arrested For 'Turning Without a Signal'

reply to post by Griff


Its not illegal to 'verbally abuse' a cop. He was arrested for a traffic violation. The verbal abuse simply seems to be the reason that the cop decided to exercise the maximum force he was allowed for the crime instead of letting him go with a warning or ticket.

I disagree with his course of action, but technically, the cop appears to have done nothing wrong.

Another part worth mentioning is that the cop involved's superior didn't make any type of references to the arrestees questioning or behavior...Now if the guy had acted threatening or abusive, don't you think his superior would have mentioned that to calm potential back-lash that this is creating?

Bottom line-WHATEVER the guy said does NOT VALIDATE HIM BEING STRIP SEARCHED on top of an arrest over a traffic violation. That is a total abuse of power.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


Strip searching is standard operating procedure for most (all?) police departments if the prisoner is going to be tossed into the general jail population (and it appears he was). They want to be absolutely sure no one is bringing in drugs or weapons.

[edit on 7-5-2008 by vor78]

If they're jailing people for minor offences like this, they may soon arrest the entire population. I thought the prisons were overcrowded? I can now see why...

Originally posted by Griff

Originally posted by elevatedone
Two sides to every story...

Since when are words illegal? Since when is the "tone" of your voice illegal? Even if he threatened the cop with words, it is still not illegal. Now, if he raised a fist to the cop, THAT is illegal.

[edit on 5/7/2008 by Griff]

I DONT KNOW WHERE you are from, but a threat to an officer, verbal or not, IS illegal, there is a tollerable line, and usually the cop will say..." that is enough, or something like that", but if you continue to "HARRASS", you will be breaking the law

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Originally posted by vor78
He was arrested for a traffic violation.

As misdemeanor charges, most traffic violations require payment of a fine but no jail time. State laws do not allow a judge to impose a jail sentence for speeding or failure to stop at a signal. However, more serious traffic violations, such as drunk or reckless driving, can result in jail time at the judge's discretion.

www.enotes.com...

It is not a crime to even cuss out a LEO, but you can't threaten him in any way. Of course you won't get any cooperation from the officer or mercy. Offensive language, is not wise in any case. What ever else transpired is a matter for the magistrate to rule on. I agree though if your the only one on the road at 2 am (this happened to me a few times) and you get pulled over for a so called traffic stop, its going to annoy you even if your not intoxicated or bothering anyone. LEO bordom isn't and shouldn't be your problem. When your next promotion is predicated on the amount of arrests and convictions, its only a matter of time before you get the shaft.
Zindo

reply to post by Griff


I'm merely going by what the police chief said in the article. If he's mistaken, then he can probably expect a lawsuit against the city police department and rightfully so.

reply to post by Hellmutt


That was exactly my first thought when I read this as well...It's no wonder we have the highest incarcerated population on the planet with ridiculous crap like this, and people getting tossed in jail for smoking a doobie. lol

Originally posted by bsbray11

Originally posted by damntheptb
lesson here is simple.... DO NOT MAKE COPS ANGRY

I don't think you realize what your little contribution here is beginning to cause to tip, for the rest of us who aren't going to put up with this BS from police.

dont get me wrong, I dont agree with what was done, I only speek from personal experience, and If a cop pulls you over, or stops you on the street, they are looking for any reason to get you, for the most part, they already have something to use as leverage, since you were pulled over. By being "rude", "argumentive", etc, you are only pouring fuel on fire, and we all know it gets hotter..

When i was younger i never "gave in", and always raised my opinions on my "rights", and NEVER got a warning...
Now ive been older, and have been pulled over on numerous occasions for various offenses, and I am always polite, never reach for anything till im told, and i have NOT had a ticket in over 12 years...
I despise abusive authority, but it IS IMPORTANT to know your limits, unless you are ready to accept the consequences and are ready to fight.
remember ---- YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT----

Originally posted by ZindoDoone
It is not a crime to even cuss out a LEO, but you can't threaten him in any way.

As someone pointed out. Obviously, the man DID NOT threaten the officer in any way. Verbal or physical. Or the police chief would have said so.

reply to post by vor78


Upon further review, I think that the police chief is probably correct.

tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us...

Title 7, Chapters 543 and 545 seem to be the relevant laws on the matter.

---§ 543.001. ARREST WITHOUT WARRANT AUTHORIZED. Any peace
officer may arrest without warrant a person found committing a
violation of this subtitle.

---§ 545.104. SIGNALING TURNS; USE OF TURN SIGNALS.
(a) An operator shall use the signal authorized by Section 545.106
to indicate an intention to turn, change lanes, or start from a
parked position.

So was the cop within his authority to make this arrest? Probably. The guy was clearly violating the laws on providing a turn signal and, if I'm reading this correctly, his failure to do so subjected him to possible arrest.

I've always found in my dealings with the police that when you are polite and cooperative that you can often get let go with a warning.

I'll state that again for any of you who should happen to be unfortunate enough to get pulled over in the near future. Be polite, listen to what the office says, answer his/her questions. In short act like you would with a guest in your home.

I've been pulled over dozens of times in my life and I've only gotten two tickets in my car (I did manage to get one on my bicycle but that's another story).

If you behave in a rude fashion, question the police office aggressively, ask for his badge etc. you're going to get a ticket and you may also end up taking a trip to jail.

Put yourself in the position of being a police officer. You see a car do a California stop at an arterial stop sign. You pull the car over. It could be filled with nasty gang members or someones grandma. You don't know. When you question the driver how will the drivers reactions impact your decision making process. Would you be easier on someone who was nice to you? Would you get irritated with someone who was rude and insulting to you?

Think about it

reply to post by Wildbob77


I agree 100%, its all in the attitude..... you still might get a cop that had a bad night, or one who just found out his wife is cheating, etc. It's a completly blind situation, until the officer has your info, and has decided about your demeanor.
I dont have to like someone to respect them, and I DO respect law officers, they have a job to do, and there might be a lot of corrupt, or powerhungry officers, but as long as ther is at least one honest hard working cop who apreciates his position as public safety officer, than ther is hope.
I AM NOT SUPPORTING THE COP, NOR THE KID, I just know when to keep my mouth shut and when to voice my opinions, remember--- there is a time and place for everything

I wish more people were ticketed for not using turn signals as it is an arrogant and dangerous way to drive. Maybe if more people followed the rules of/on the road we'd have less road rage and fewer accidents.

The guy that got ticketed displayed his arrogance further by mouthing off to the Cop, while not illegal its stupid and disrespectful. Seems to be a big problem with this generation, they have no respect for others. So, first he disrespected everyone on the road and then he disrespected the person who's job it is to tell him about it.

The Cops behavior was that of an arrogant bully. When you challange bully's on a power trip you get pounded sometimes. Doesn't make it right or wrong - it's a fact jack. He could have just written an expensive ticket. Instead he chose to wield all his power by cuffing the man and striping him naked, and confining him because he could.

The system likes to let you know who's in control when you are arrested by stripping you naked and looking up your butt like a rapist would in order to destroy your dignity and make you compliant. The old lie about keeping contraband out of jail has little relevance - besides hardened ex-cons how many people put stuff up their butts when they get arrested?

Seems allot of folks like to look the other way when jails and prisons abuse others in many ways, because we always think bad guys deserve to be treated like terrorist, until we find out that were all just a few miles an hour from being treated the same way.

Solution - talk nicely and be respectful when you get pulled over. 9 times out of 10 both parties days will be better and you may walk away without an infraction once and a while. When the cops & jails abuse our civil rights take them to court and make them hurt.


[edit on 7-5-2008 by verylowfrequency]

I normally don't defend the cops, but many of these traffic stops gone bad seem to be partially due to the motorist being ignorant of the law.

If you are going to drive and if you are going to dispute being stopped, then know the law. Simple as that; choose your battles carefully.

If you're an argumentative person, disputing everything, getting aggressive, then realize you will get arrested now and then, especially if you argue from ignorance.

As many cops will tell you, the time to argue is in court. Keep a camera or a vid-cam in the car. Record things for evidence.

Don't touch the cop, threaten him, curse him, insult him. It never helps your case, so if you're doing it, change your strategy. It's simply dumb. Note I didn't say don't try and state your side.

In short, if you know it's illegal to not use your signal, and you know you didn't use it, and you know you can be jailed for that, then you have NOTHING about which you can argue. Why do it? Otherwise you're just whining, aware you were wrong.

Having said that, maybe the cop car video will make it to youtube. Might be interesting.

2 cents.

PS - Drivers who argue, half-drunk, or obnoxious and wrong can cause cops to have little patience for the next driver they meet. This makes it difficult for a person who is -truly- in the right to present a polite counter-argument. You may not care if you're a danger to yourself (or others) on the highway, but the cops often have a wider perspective.
Use your signals, don't cowboy, don't consider the world your ashtray, pay attention and stay off the cell phones. We'll all be safer for it.

[edit on 7-5-2008 by Badge01]

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


These types of arrest are not rare in the state of Texas. I was a volunteer for the ACLU during my years in Austin and I would hear of these types of arrests over and over. In 2002 a young highschool student won a suite against the Williamson County sherriffs department when she was arrested and jailed for 36 hours for having a "# Happens" bumper sticker on her vehicle.

There are some real horror stories of abuse and wrongful prosecution in that state. What would one expect from a stae with the greatest number of executions per capita in the world.

Well I think there should be more arrests for bad driving...in the uk driving about ..the amount of times I have nearly been wiped out is scary...
The driving test in the UK is supposed to be harder...yet the standard of driving is appalling and dangerous ..think it one of the few good things in the coming " New Order" lol

And I think some of the buggers should be tasered....they endanger my life !!...many times when some lunatic has switched my adrenalin up because of their dangerous stupidity ...I prey that they get their come uppance .....well ...times are changing lol

Thats my opinion anyway!!....sick of the idiots on the road these days!!

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


Good evening.

I'm new here. This will be my first post.

I signed up after reading this. Hit close to home.

My grandson whom I've raised for nineteen years was arrested last weekend for the same thing. He didn't use a turn signal pulling out of a gas station. We live in Mid Michigan.
He was arrested...finger printed, had the mug shot...and I had to bail him out of jail. The other violation was there was a little something hanging from the rear view mirror. Sad to say...it was not his vehicle.
His "real crime" was driving on a restricted license as he had driven past midnight originally... and this was where the restriction came in.
He did NOT confront the officer in any way and was respectful. Yes...I can accept the fact that he should have gotten....what? A ticket for the license restriction...not a problem there...it was breaking the law, but to arrest him, put him in handcuffs, take him to jail.... and naturally I had to post bail to secure his release. I find this whole ordeal a little of what might be considered....excessive.

I went so far as to contact The ACLU, and found out....you pretty much lose your civil rights once you enter your car. WHEN did this happen?
I was also told that if you recieve a DUI...and are fined, this fine can be required to be paid over again for years.
Also even though you have insurance, but you do not have it with you it's an automatic 5 hundred dollar fine.

With the price of gas...all these "new rules"...think I just might buy a horse.
Seems to work for the Amish.

Originally posted by Witness2008
reply to post by DimensionalDetective

 

In 2002 a young highschool student won a suite against the Williamson County sherriffs department when she was arrested and jailed for 36 hours for having a "# Happens" bumper sticker on her vehicle.

h aha ha ha ha , i used to have a BAD COP---NO DONUT bumper sticker on my 1969 VW bus, and i think EVERY cop who got behind me pulled me over....trying to smell mariuana, or alcohol.....